"The wealth of a society is strongly connected to its use of energy," Dale said, adding that the U.S. is now entering a declining era in the age of oil. "Unless we can solve the problem, we will see less prosperity in our country," he said. "It's time for this industry to embrace cellulosic biofuels."

Dale said that the single most logical place to grow cellulosic ethanol is on the infrastructure of existing corn ethanol plants.